How to Choose the Right Travel Credit Card

How to Choose the Right Travel Credit Card

The decision to get a credit card can be difficult, but if you are going to get yourself a credit card make sure you get one that will help you get the most travel benefits a week. And keep in mind that not all travel credit cards will be the best one for you. The best travel card for you will not necessarily be the best credit card for someone else.

How to Choose the Right Travel Credit Card

There are a lot of things you should factor in when picking out a travel rewards card. Think about where you are traveling too, how much you travel, and how soon will you need the rewards.

Travel Credit Card Cost vs. Benefits

There can be fees associated with certain travel credit cards so you will have to decide if the benefits you will obtain out weight the cost of the card.

Benefits

For myself there were certain benefits that were more important to me than others. For example, I fly once a week, which means I spend a lot of time in airports. When I decided to get the Amex Platinum I wanted world wide lounge access. We also got to Disney at least once a year, so I like to earn Disney dollars to spend during our trip with a Disney card. I am going to break down some of my top credit cards and their benefits.

American Express Platinum

Full disclosure The American Express Platinum is the travel credit card I use the most, so I am biased towards it. This card has a lot of travel benefits.

Lounge Access: As I already mentioned you get lounge access with this card which includes Centurion Lounges and if you are flying Delta it includes Delta Sky Club. If you fly Delta a lot then this is a pretty big factor.

Hilton Honors Gold Status: You automatically get gold status with Hilton Honors which means you get things like free breakfast.

Uber Credits: They give you $15 a month Uber credits.

Airline Credit: You can pick out one airline and get a $200 credit off things you buy from that airline like snacks, gift cards, and airline lounge passes.

Bonus Points: If you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months you get 60,000 bonus points. These points can be transferred to your airline of choice.

Fee: This card is by far the most expensive I am listing, so you really need to use the benefits, otherwise it will not be worth it. The annual fee is a whopping $550!

Chase Sapphire Reserve

I’ve noticed that a lot of travel bloggers I know are switching to this card.

$300 Travel Credit: This credit applies to anything travel related.

Global Entry/TSA Application Credit: When you apply for TSA or Global Entry your application fee is refunded up to $100.

Lounge Access: ou get lounge access with this card to lounges accessible with Priority Pass.

50,000 bonus reward points when you spend $4000 in the first three months.

Fee: The annual fee is $450.

Delta Reserve American Express

I spent a lot of time looking through airline specific cards and at the end of the day Delta was the right one for me. My second choice would have been an Alaskan card. I travel all over the world so that automatically means that some airline cards wouldn’t work for me, like Southwest. Southwest doesn’t fly all over the world, so it was an automatic no. If you travel only in the United States and Mexico then a Southwest card would probably be great for you.

$75 companion ticket once a year: This is for domestic travel only and can be used for first class, Delta Comfort+ or the main cabin (Keep in mind that Alaska Airlines credit card also offers a nice annual companion ticket as well.)

Lounge Access: You get access to all Delta Sky Club lounges.

Free Checked Bag: You and and up to eight companions can check a bag for free.

Bonus Miles: There is a 40,000 miles credit after you spend $3,000 in the first three months. You will also recieve 10,000 MQMs for this.

Fee: $450 which is substantially more than when I initially got this card.

Disney Premier Visa Credit Card

This card is ideal for those that take a Disney vacation at least once a year or every other year. When I was using this card I averaged at least $400 a year in Disney Reward Dollars. This paid for a lot of our meals.

Disney Reward Dollars: When you sign up for a Disney credit card you automatically earn $200 Disney reward dollars when you spend $500 in the first 3 months. This is easy extremely easy to do. Plus, you earn in Disney Rewards Dollars on card purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and most Disney locations. Other types of purchases earn you 1%.

Special Disney Perks: With the Disney card you get “Disney” perks like a special meet and greet with two of the main characters and an 8×10 photo. At Disney World if will be traditional characters and at Disneyland it will be Star Wars characters.

Fee: This card has a $49 annual fee. They do have another card with no annual fee, but the earnings aren’t as good.

What if you don’t qualify?

You may need help repairing your credit before you can qualify for a credit card. If that’s the case Lexington Law help you repair your credit.

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Meagan is the author and host of Mommy Travels, a family travel and lifestyle blog. She has been traveling the world with her three kids for over a decade and loves sharing her adventures and tips with others.

One Comment

We have saved a packet by being cautious and careful with out credit card – we now travel with separate cards for cash and for credit. I love it when my app pops up and tells me how much I’ve saved by not using dynamic currency conversion too!